My Great British Bake Off Challenge from week 4 comes to you a little late as I decided to postpone making it until Saturday so I could give it as a birthday cake. Plus, being 3 layers and having never made a torte before I felt it was better reserved for a Saturday.

This is also my 50th post! I love writing this blog and really appreciate every comment that gets left. Thank you so much for reading. I'm really happy to have made it to 50 posts so I'll be ecstatic when I get to 100. I'm also coming up to 10,000 page views as well. I know some bloggers get that a month but every little milestone is a big deal to me so a big 3 layer cake seemed the best way to celebrate these early achievements!

We had a quiet weekend consisting of baking, thrifting old maps at the car boot sale, Indian food, wanders into town and venti coffee light frappucinos. We enjoyed the last of the sun and now I feel ready for winter. I started coat hunting last night in readyness. I also succumbed to and ordered myself a treat from the Orla Kiely x Uniqlo collection.

After last week's tarte tatin double fail I really wanted the torte to go well. It's a little rustic but for a first attempt I was happy. I'm also now totally in love with making the little chocolate ganache truffles and when it gets closer to the festive season I'll be posting some ideas for cheap foodie gifts like those.

I should mention as well that this recipe uses ground almonds instead of flour and is therefore gluten free! Big hooray for any gluten free readers. It's an incredibly moist cake because of the ground almonds and it goes perfectly with the coffee whisky mascarpone.

When you mix the coffee whisky mascarpone together it will taste quite strongly of whisky but once it's in the cake it is much milder. Of course you can reduce the amount of whisky in it or omit it completely if you are making it for children.

I used two 25cm springform cake tins. Most of the mix went in one and I used that to make the top two layers and then I made the bottom layer in the other tin.

You can make as many or as few layers as you like. This mix would stretch to 4 thinner layers, depending on how good your knife skills are.

Melt the chocolate and butter together over a pan of simmering water on the hob, taking care not to let any water come into contact with the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Beat the egg yolks with 100g caster sugar until pale in colour, then pour in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the almonds and cocoa powder.

Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add the remaining 200g caster sugar until combined. Fold one-third of the egg white into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in the rest until just blended.

Spoon into the tin, spreading evenly, and bake for 45 minutes or until a cocktail stick comes out relatively clean.

Whilst the cake is in the oven make the truffles. Put the chocolate, cream and vanilla in a pan and heat very gently until melted. Cool, then chill for 90 mins until firm.

Use a mini ice cream scoop or teaspoon to make 12 truffles, then dust with cocoa. Chill until ready to put on top of the torte.

Next prepare the mascarpone cream, in a bowl mix the espresso powder and whisky together, then add the icing sugar and mascarpone. Mix until combined, then cover and set aside.

Let the cake cool completely before removing from the tins and slicing into layers.

Assemble the cake a layer at a time, spreading the mascarpone over each layer until you are finished. Gently reheat the remaining chocolate ganache mix and drizzle over the top of the torte, use the chocolate to secure the truffles to the cake as well. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the chocolate to set (this stops the truffles rolling about on op of the cake). Serve.